Dou dizhu is described as easy to learn but hard to master, requiring mathematical and strategic thinking as well as carefully planned execution. Suits are irrelevant in playing dou dizhu. Players can easily play the game with a set of dou dizhuplaying cards, without the suits printed on the cards. Less popular variations of the game do exist in China, such as four-player and five-player dou dizhu played with two packs of cards.

Dou dizhu is played among three people with one pack of cards, including the two differentiated jokers. The game starts with players bidding for the "landlord" (地主) position. Those who lose the bid or don't bid enter the game as the "peasants" (农民) team competing against the landlord. The objective of the game is to be the first player to have no cards left.

A shuffled pack of 54 cards is dealt to three players. Each player is dealt 17 cards, with the last three leftover cards detained on the playing desk, face down.

All players first review and appraise their own cards without showing their cards to the other players. Then, players take turns to bid for the landlord position by telling the other players the risk stake they are willing to accept.

There are three kinds of risk stakes, 1, 2, and 3, with 1 being the lowest and 3 being the highest. Generally, the more confident a player is in the strength of one's cards, the higher the risk stakes one is willing to bid. In most of the online game rooms, the first bidder is chosen randomly by the system. In reality, players usually make up their own rules as to who gets to bid first. For example, some rules stipulate that the player who gets hearts three is the first bidder. If hearts three is in the "kitty" cards, the first bidder will be the one who gets hearts four and so on.

A player may accept the prior player's bid by passing their turn to bid or one may try to outbid the prior player as long as the prior player did not bet 3 as the risk stake.
The highest bidder takes the landlord position; the remaining players enter the Farmer team competing against the landlord. The three leftover wild cards are then revealed to all players before being dealt to the landlord.

The landlord wins if he or she has no cards left. The peasant team wins if either of the peasants have no cards left.

A few fundamental and exceptive rules are essential for understanding the game play of the game. Some rules are structured differently from the other popular card games. Players who have prior experience with other card games, such as poker, and Big Two, often prejudice the rules.

The game uses the concept of hands, similar to the hands in poker, except there are more variations and not necessarily consisted of only five cards.

Compare only the same Category. A player can only beat the prior hand using of the same Category but not the others.

Compare only the Chains with the same length. Beat the prior hand using the same number of cards is a basic doctrine which only the Rocket and the Bomb may violate. For example, although both 9-10-J-Q-K and 3-4-5-6-7-8-9 are Single Chains, 9-10-J-Q-K cannot beat 3-4-5-6-7-8-9, nor vice versa.

Compare the rank in the Primal cards only. The Kicker's rank is irrelevant to the comparison unless a variation with 2+ decks is being played.

Jokers and 2 are non-consecutive cards. Colored Joker, black-and-white Joker, and 2 cannot be used in any of the Primal cards of the Chains since they are not traditionally considered as the consecutive cards sequentially next to the Ace. Examples of illegal Chain: 2-3-4-5-6, 2-2-2-3-3-3 w/ A-A-7-7, K-A-2 + B&W Joker + Colored Joker

The longest chain possible column is only applicable to a hand with twenty cards, which the landlord possesses after seizing the three leftover wild cards.

Category

Description

Example

Primal

with (+) kicker

Chain

Lowest rankand/or shortest chain

Highest rankand/or longest chain possible

Solo

Х

—

Any single card

3

Colored joker

Solo

Х

Chain

≥ Five consecutive individual cards

3-4-5-6-7

3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-J-Q-K-A

Pair

Х

—

Two matching cards of equal rank

3-3

2-2

Pair

Х

Sisters

≥ Three consecutive pairs

3-3-4-4-5-5

5-5-6-6-7-7-8-8-9-9-10-10-J-J-Q-Q-K-K-A-A

Trio

—

—

Three-of-a-kind: Three individual cards of the same rank

3-3-3

2-2-2

Airplane

—

Chain

≥ Two consecutive trios

3-3-3-4-4-4

9-9-9-10-10-10-J-J-J-Q-Q-Q-K-K-K-A-A-A

Trio

Solo

—

Three cards of the same rank with a solo as the kicker

3-3-3 + 4

2-2-2 + colored joker

Trio

Solo

Airplane

≥ Two consecutive trios with each carries a distinct individual card as the kicker

3-3-3-4-4-4 + 5-6

10-10-10-J-J-J-Q-Q-Q-K-K-K-A-A-A + 7-8-9-2-colored joker

Trio

Pair

—

Full house: Three cards of the same rank with a pair as the kicker.

3-3-3 + 4-4

2-2-2 + A-A

Trio

Pair

Chain

≥ Two consecutive trios with each carrying a pair as the kicker

3-3-3-4-4-4 + 5-5-6-6

J-J-J-Q-Q-Q-K-K-K-A-A-A + 8-8-9-9-10-10-2-2

Bomb

Four-of-a-kind, with a kicker. Four cards of the same rank without the kicker is called a bomb, which defies category rules, even beats four with a kicker.

Beginners and players who are familiar with other card games with similar but different rules of hand formation and superiority often misinterpret some of the rules that involve the kicker, causing illegal play.

Illegal play

Example

Correction

Rank of the kicker = rank of the primal cards

Trio chain + solo is 3-3-3-4-4-4 + 3-K

When one is using any kicker attached to primal cards, the kicker cards cannot be the same card rank of any primal cards used.

Dual solo = pair

Four + dual solo: 3-3-3-3 + J-J

Dual solo must consist of two cards with different ranks, such as J-K. Otherwise, it is counted as pair which is different.

Dual pair = four of a kind

Four-of-a-kind + dual pair: 3-3-3-3 + J-J-J-J

Dual pair must consist of two sets of pairs of different ranks, such as 3-3-7-7, not four-of-a-kind.

Rocket = kicker cards

Four + dual solo: 3-3-3-3 + colored joker + black-and-white joker.

Only one of the jokers can be used as a kicker card in a single or dual solo kicker.

There are at least four elements that will affect the score in a round (there may be more rules which affect the scores in some regions): bid of the risk stake, the position of the player (landlord/peasant), rocket and/or bomb, no deals played (a.k.a. "spring").

Bid of the risk stake. There are three kinds of risk stakes, 1, 2 and 3, from low to top. It is the basic score of the game in a round.

The position of the player (landlord vs. peasant). The landlord shoulders the risk of loss while the two peasants share it. The landlord wins or loses double score while two peasants share the same number of points.

Rocket and/or bomb. Each rocket and bomb dealt by each player doubles the score in a round.

No deals played a.k.a. spring. If the peasants do not deal any card in a round, or the landlord only deal the card once with cards left in hand in a round, the final score will be double. In the former situation, the landlord wins score while the peasants lose, else the peasants win score.

Since there are so many elements affecting score of the game in a round, it is hard to predict how big one will win or lose.

A player can deal with an unrelated or useless card by making it the kicker card.[1]

Rocket and bomb are the ultimate weapons in the game. If they either is in one's hand, one should make full use of it when time comes. If players do not possess high confidence in winning, they may think twice about dealing a rocket or bomb, because once the dealt, the risk stake of the round will be doubled (players will either win or lose double) with each rocket or bomb dealt.

Peasants must co-operate to fight against the landlord. For example, since the two peasants come after one another, the first peasant might play a low single card if the second peasant has a sole card left.

Bid high for landlord with the best hand. If a player has the best hand, bidding high for the position of landlord enables him to win a bigger pot.

The four-player version of dou dizhu is played mainly in Zhejiang and Jiangsu provinces, including Shanghai. It uses a double deck, including two red and two black jokers – 108 cards altogether. Each player takes 25 cards and 8 cards are left over for the landlord, who plays alone from a hand of 33 cards against the other three players in partnership.

The combinations that can be played differ from those in the three-player game (listed above), as follows:

Single card attachments are not permitted

Nor are there four-with-a-kicker categories

Bomb: four- or five-of-a-kind

Rocket: six-of-a-kind

Missile: seven-of-a-kind

Sky explosion: eight-of-a-kind

Nuke: four jokers (the greatest hand in four-player dou dizhu; can beat anything.If the landlord have the four jokers, he or she could claim for having them. Once claimed for the 4 jokers on hand, the 4 jokers could be used separately. By doing this, the landlord could also choose winning without playing. )

Another variation of dou dizhu is the edition with wild cards. Like the original settings, after the determination of the landlord, four-of-a-kind will be randomly selected as wild cards. Those can be used to stand for any other cards, except jokers.

Some games even feature two sets of wild cards. The first set would be drawn before the bid for the landlord, then another one would then be drawn out.

Dou dizhu was once just a provincial game in China, originating in the Huangshan District[2] and Anhui.[3] Thanks to the debut of dou dizhu online, the game has become more widespread and is now a national game in China. its popularity increased substantially, with players on one system doubling in two years, from around 50,000 players in December 2002 to 100,000 in 2004[4]
and 17,900,000 players being the loyal fans of the casual game while dou dizhu leading the core place in 2005.[5][clarification needed]
There are almost 1 million concurrent dou dizhu players on the Tencent QQ game platform alone.[6]
It is more popular than other Chinese card games like Chinese poker, winner, and big two.

Year

Popularity in China

Source

2002

50,000 players

GICQ(ourgame.com)

2004

100,000 players

GICQ(ourgame.com)

2005

17,900,000 players being the loyal fans of the casual game while dou dizhu leading the core place.